The Estonian government on Thursday endorsed the interior minister's proposal to grant citizenship to 147 individuals.
Estonia gets 147 new citizens
9th May 2013, 17:16
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All the applicants meet the requirements for acquiring citizenship, spokespeople for the government said.
Data of the Police and Border Guard Board show that in the first three months of the year 430 persons were naturalized in Estonia, more than twice as many as during the same period of the previous year. In the first quarter of 2012 the government granted citizenship to 166 persons.
Last year 1,332 individuals obtained Estonian citizenship by naturalization, 166 fewer than the year before.
The proportion of residents with undefined citizenship has steadily declined since Estonia regained independence. In 1992 stateless residents made up 32 percent of the population, in 1999 they accounted for 13 percent and now they account for 6 percent.